Metals embedded in concrete typically form very poor bonds with the contacting cement because there are no coupling compounds that form between the cement and the metal. In select embodiments of the present invention, nickel and cobalt-rich glass frits bond to steel and the glass frits on the steel bond to bulk construction materials embedded in the glass frits on the steel. These bulk materials may comprise portland cement clinker, mica, quartz, aluminum silicate, other refractory inorganic compounds, and the like. A configuration comprising one or more of these bulk materials bound in the surface of a glass frit effects a tight bond to the calcium silicate hydrate that forms as the portland cement in the concrete hydrates.